70 Years Protecting People Forced to Flee

Virtual Conference on the 70^th Anniversary of the founding of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Date:

17/12/2020

Fidaa, a DAFI/HOPES student at home in Beqaa Valley.

©UNHCR/Antoine Tardy

The virtual academic conference, "70 years protecting people forced to flee", will take place on 18, 19, 21 and 27 January as a contribution towards the research and teaching outlined in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). This conference is co-hosted by the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN), a mechanism called for in the GCR to facilitate research, teaching and scholarship opportunities which result in specific deliverables in support of its four objectives. GAIN’s secretariat is currently led by the University of Essex and UNHCR, and partnered with 11 academic institutions with expertise on forced displacement to co-host expert panels in each of the regions of the world where UNHCR operates. The Conference will demonstrate unique contributions from academia to burden and responsibility sharing, protection and solutions for refugees, as well as how academic research can inform policy making, programme implementation and evidence-based decision-making.

Access to tertiary education is the first step in closing the gap between learning and earning and is central to enhance refugee self-reliance, one of the four GCR objectives. Thus, in celebration of the 70 years of protection and in the spirit of responsibility-sharing, we invite you to contribute to the crowdfunding campaign Aiming Higher, which aims to change the lives of talented young refugees: 70 crowdfunded refugee scholarships in commemoration of 70 years of protection.

Agenda

The kick-off and closing ceremonies will take place on the 18 and 27 January, respectively, and will consist in global panels co-hosted by the University of Essex, current Chair of the GAIN, and UNHCR, while region-specific sessions will be hosted by 11 academic institutions and take place on 19 and 21 January, with a focus on specific challenges, opportunities and refugee situations in each region where UNHCR operates.

The Kick-off Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony will be held twice in order to accommodate different time zones. The recording will be subsequently available.

18 January: Kick-off ceremony